Nudge Nudge

This is my week for morning carpool and I've been dreading it. Not because of the extra kiddo, not because of the extra six blocks of driving, but because almost every single day the cute little 4 year old we drive home looks around the back of our van with visible disgust and tells me once again that I should really clean my car and then she eyes an old apple core in Nuala's cup holder and looks at me with more pity than I care to admit and sighs dramatically and runs up to her porch to once again let Carpool Dad know that he's just made her ride home in the world's dirtiest minivan! And he always laughs and says things like, "Oh yeah? Their van is messy just like ours huh?", trying to let me off the hook a little and she just looks at him and says, "no". This week I even cleaned it out just for her, but then yesterday was ballet which means we went straight from school to the dance studio and I had to pack snacks for the drive and you know how that goes. Food in the car used to be a big no-no, but how can I expect my ballerinas to focus on a plié or a chassé when their little tutu clad bellies are rumbling? Still. Something must be done, the car mess is getting a little out of hand.

Speaking of cars, I hit one as I was backing into my parking space at school this morning. It really shocked me and before I knew what was happening a swear word came flying out of my mouth (not even just a swear word, but THE swear word, the mother of all swear words, GASP) at which point the teenagers reprimanded me immediately and I think everyone was more put off by my language than by the fact that I had just hit another vehicle! I really only tapped it slightly but it was a decent little nudge and so I stood outside, while Sidhe and Maija took the littles to their classrooms, so that I could talk to the owner of the other car and peek around to make sure Carpool Dad wasn't a witness to my super safe driving. Luckily she was really laid back about the whole thing but it was still not my favorite way to start the morning, I much prefer not nudging stuff with my car. Sheesh.

And here is a random carseat safety blurb, simply because it's come up in various circles lately, both in real life and in cyber space, and so it's been on my mind. This is a great article with tons of information regarding rear facing and why it's recommended. Did you know that my own mother, who is usually very up to speed on current research, used to give me a hard time about our extended rear facing of the twins? I always thought that was so funny, because I usually rely on her for all of my information! And for the record I turned Maija forward facing at around 9 months old because I didn't know anything about this stuff back then. Way back in the 90's…

Otherwise our weekend looked like this, predictable and lovely as ever: